[Abbas] has been marginalized over the years. He was pushed
out. His leadership was pushed out of Gaza in 2007 by Hamas,
which had won an election in 2006. But the situation between
these two rival factions had gotten to the point where it was
essentially a civil war.

To make matters worse, the U.S. has
time and again threatened veto of Abbas' efforts to gain
Palestinian recognition in the U.N. So the only person the U.S.
can talk to directly has little political sway in the area, while
holding motivation to be as difficult as diplomatically possible.

The real player is Egyptian President Muhammed Morsi. As a
dual representative for the Muslim Brotherhood and the largest
Middle Eastern country, he holds significant sway in Gaza. Egypt
has also chosen to honor the peace treaty with Israel.

With those relations in his resume, Morsi can actually
broker directly between Gaza and Israel.

Unfortunately, Egypt's new regime has been more confrontational
toward Israel and resistant toward U.S. foreign policy.

Lastly, relations between the Obama White House and Netanyahu
have been frosty, to say the least —
some might also conclude that Netanyahu struck Gaza at a time
when the U.S. was at its weakest politically and militarily.

In short, Clinton is stepping into a delicate situation, where
she will have to rely on finesse, not power.

UPDATE 13:00 EST:Egypt's Foreign
Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr and U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton just held a press
conference in which they announced that a ceasefire
deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. It is
expected to begin at 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m.
EST). Until then, the sides continue to trade blows.